LARAMIE, Wyo., April 20 (UPI) -- Some University of Wyoming students are battling to have Bill Ayers, a former Weather Underground leader, speak there, while others want him to stay away.
Ayers, who teaches education at the University of Illinois-Chicago, was invited by the Social Justice Research Center, which changed its mind about the invitation last month, the Casper Star-Tribune reported. The university reported being inundated with phone calls and e-mails, most of them opposed to the invitation.
Meg Lanker, a student at the university, then invited Ayers to appear April 28, only to be told he could not speak anywhere on campus. She and Ayers have gone to court.
Caitlin Wallace, president of the university College Republicans, said students have moved passed simply debating Ayers.
"There's a heavy debate over whether it's an issue of free speech or whether it's an issue of Mr. Ayers and his background and things of that sort," Wallace said.
Ayers became an issue in the 2008 presidential campaign because he and Barack Obama were acquaintances in Chicago.
